As I have worked with Mind Masters clients over the years, I have always stressed the importance of having 3 marketing tactics that you do consistently.
There are many perspectives on what marketing is, let me illustrate – a first definition of marketing: the business activity of presenting products and/or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy. And there is: Marketing – the management of perception.
But what I have learned is that most marketing is haphazard. We’ll try a little of this, a little of that, then a little more of this. What I really got from all of the experts is that if you want to be successful in marketing and sales, you need to have a system: a repeatable process that consistently produces a successful result.
Jay Levinson & Seth Godin in “The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook” discuss 73 low cost, high impact ways to get your marketing message out. Most of them are activities that support other marketing tactics. Barbara Lambesis has a list of 101 tactics in her book 101 Big Ideas for Promoting a Business. There are plenty to choose from as long as they are an activity that creates a connection between you and a prospective client, which moves them closer to doing business with you, and you use those tactics consistently to build trust.
A friend shared an experience with me about a tactic she used that might illustrate what consistency can really do for your business. She had been in her business for awhile and thought about doing some other things with her life, so she decided to have her business appraised to see if it were saleable. To her shock it was not worth close to what she had poured her blood, sweat and tears into up to that point, so she set out to make it more valuable. Over a 5 year period the tactic she chose was speaking, she spoke anywhere they would listen, she did classes and workshops, she spoke to business groups all over the city.
From her one topic (she said at times she felt like a broken record) she was able to grow the business to the point that when she sold it, it was worth substantially more than that first appraisal. She became known as the expert and people came seeking her out because she had developed a relationship with them.
What tactics do you use and how do they combine to fit your situation on a consistent basis so they become your basic game plan? There are no miracle tactics. Marketing is all about communication. When your marketing is inconsistent, and you are trying to do too many things your potential clients don’t get your message, they don’t respond or buy.
There are many things to consider when developing your marketing, the message, the benefits, how you are different, are you credible, do you do what you say you will do, but the component that is essential is how consistently you use those key tactics that say “I can trust that person”. Remember people have to trust you, to do business with you.
The Challenge: Take a step back and asses what tactics you are using, and track how consistently on a weekly basis you are working with them.